Читать книгу The Future Homemakers of America - Laurie Graham - Страница 21

‘Fuck the squadron,’ Lois said. Using a word like that in front of her child. I had gone round to see her. Try to explain things, mend a few fences, but she wasn’t ready yet.

Saturday I picked Kath up and we drove to Downham. They had a cute little market there, sold eggs and stuff, laid out on tables under canvas canopies. Potatoes covered in dirt and all kinds of rabbit-food greenery. I wouldn’t have touched any of it for fear of disease, but it was fun to go look.

Kath said, ‘You’re quiet, Peg. You all right?’

I said, ‘I’m okay. Things on my mind.’

‘Have you?’ she said.

She was buying something called roe. It comes from a fish. There were seabirds sitting in a line along a roof. ‘Look at that,’ she said. ‘Must be bad weather coming in. You sure you don’t want any roe? That’s smashing on a bit of buttered toast.’

We walked on.

I said, ‘Friend of mine has been playing around. You know what I mean? Married woman. And I don’t want to see her go ruin her life.’

‘Well,’ she said, ‘I don’t see what you can do. I think I’ll get a bit of celery while I’m here.’

I said, ‘Her husband ever finds out, or the other wife, I don’t like to think. If I had that done to me, Vern ever played away, I’d kill him.’

‘But that’s different with men,’ she said. ‘That’s in their nature. They can’t hardly stop theirselves, what I’ve seen of it. That’s like trying to keep a tomcat from straying.’

I said, ‘Like hell it’s different. A man stands up and makes his vows, he oughta keep to them.’

My heart was pounding.

She said, ‘I agree. But how do you get them to do it? That’s the question. You can’t be watching them every minute.’

I was lost for words.

‘I tell you what,’ she said. ‘I always say to John Pharaoh, “Be good, and if you can’t be good, be careful. You bring trouble to my door, I shall get you spayded. Then you’ll be sorry.” Oh, there’s May Gotobed. Can we give her a ride home?’

I reported to Audrey, soon as I could.

I said, ‘I am in shock. I’m sure Kath don’t know what’s been going on, but then, I’m not sure how much she’d care, if she found out. She has some highly unusual ideas about husbands, I must say.’

‘Mm,’ Audrey said. ‘So we keep Lois under surveillance. And when she’s had time to cool down, I think I’ll make a gesture of reconciliation. I think I’ll invite her to join the Reading Circle I’m starting up. First book we’re gonna read is The Good Earth.

I said, ‘Yeah. I’m sure Lois wouldn’t miss that for the world.’